


Now You Don't

by Architraves



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magicians, Eventual Romance, F/M, Inspired by Now You See Me, Investigator Original Percival Graves, M/M, Magic, Magicians, Mystery, Not Beta Read, Now You See Me AU, The Four Horsemen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-01 19:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13301559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Architraves/pseuds/Architraves
Summary: MACUSA's Director of Magical Security Percival Graves has been asked to lead the investigation into a group of magicians performing under the name The Four Horsemen.He believes they're simply no-maj magicians who happen to be adept at more than sleight of hand and card tricks.But there's more to the mystery than that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Who in the wizarding world would break international law just to perform incredible feats in front of no-maj audiences?
> 
> Our favourites, of course. But don't worry: they have a plan.

Percival Graves was not looking forward to today.

Never an early riser, he had a meeting via the fireplace scheduled with the President – his boss - at 8:30am sharp.

That alone was enough for him to start the day with little motivation. But then there was the topic of the meeting.

Oh, it was _fantastic_.

It was concerning a group of four no-maj performers, who seemed to have cities all across North America wrapped around their little fingers. They performed impossible feats – robbing banks without leaving the stage, flying into the air above the crowd, disappearing in an instant. Percival had had to tell his staff time and time again that sometimes people who didn’t possess magic could act as though they did. It wasn’t real magic - just sleight of hand and modern technology. Mirrors and the like. 

Unfortunately, his demonstrations of no-maj ‘is this your card?’ tricks had convinced no one. Not even the President.

He ran a hand through his wet hair in frustration as he read his morning briefing, delivered through his window by a MACUSA owl. The government’s list of priorities was lengthy, and yet a considerable portion of the investigative team had been assigned to the strange foursome.

“An absolute waste of time.” He muttered.

From behind him, he heard somebody reply in rather a warning tone of voice. “Director Graves.”

He spun around to see the green-tinged head of Seraphina Picquery having appeared in the fireplace, one elegant eyebrow raised. 

“Madam President,” He said in greeting, his tone not apologetic in the slightest.

Seraphina sighed. They had been long standing friends, and had even attended some of the same classes at Ilvermorny. She knew that he disapproved, and she also knew that he wasn’t afraid to tell her that. “Director Graves,” She repeated, warmer now. “I see you’ve read your morning briefing. Do you have any comments you wish to share with me?”

Percival stalked over to the fireplace, holding the parchment in one hand and gesticulating with the other as he spoke. “Seraphina, this is ridiculous. The international wizarding threat level is still on severe, and you’ve assigned almost half of our entire taskforce to this? This- _magic show_? Do you have any idea what a magic show actually is?”

Seraphina regarded him patiently, letting him berate her. “I know what a magic show is, Percival. And the tricks that they perform are too complex for that. Either they’re a group of unknown, particularly talented no-maj magicians – in which case, we’ll leave them alone.”

Percival rolled his eyes, and she fixed him with a glare. “Or,” She continued pointedly. “They are, in fact, wizards and witches. If that is true, then their performances are a serious breach of the International Statute of Secrecy and they will need to be dealt with accordingly.”

Silence. Percival couldn’t argue with that – a violation to that extent would at the very least damage the government’s reputation, if not risk the safety of wizards and witches across the country. Eventually, he nodded. “Okay,” He said tiredly. “I see your point. But I’m worried, Seraphina. What if this is a wild goose chase, and we’re wasting time and resources on nothing but a group of magicians with no magical prowess to speak of?”

“If that proves to be the case, then you’ll tell me and we won’t spend any more time pursuing them. But until then, Director, I’d like you to lead the investigation.”

Percival glanced at the clock. It was only 8:45am, and he had a headache already. Pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers, he said through gritted teeth, “Then I’d be happy to take charge. I believe the list of wizards and witches assigned to me was on my morning briefing.”

For the first time that morning, Seraphina smiled. “Yes, it was. I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Percival. I’ll see you when you get into the office.”

With that, her head faded back into the flames and the meeting abruptly ended.

"That you will,” Percival replied through gritted teeth. But she was already gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet our magicians.

“I’m not robbing a bank!” Tina called from her stretched out position on the couch. Her legs were hanging over the arm, and she had a laptop - borrowed, not stolen - balanced on her hips. “Not again.”

Also in New York, only a few miles away from where Percival Graves was heading to work, the Four Horsemen were having a day off.

“You just won’t let yourself have any fun, Tina,” Newt replied from the kitchen. He came to the open door, his front speckled with flour, and pointed accusingly at her with a spatula. “You know you ended up enjoying it last time.”

“I did not. It was tense, and it was stressful, and-“

“And it helped a lot of people.” Newt finished for her. He ran a hand through his hair, dusting it with white, too. “So what’s the problem?”

Tina was quiet for a moment. “I just don’t think we should do anything that high risk again. We risk exposing ourselves, and-“

“Tina-“

“Will you let me finish?” Tina snapped. She closed the laptop with a smack, swinging her legs around so that she could face Newt properly. She was gratified to see that he actually looked a bit worried. She took a deep breath, calming down. “Newt. If we get caught, we’ll lose everything. Including each other. I just think we need to stay low for a while. That’s all.”

“She’s right.”

Another voice joined the conversation, and both Tina and Newt jumped.

“I’m over here,” The voice continued. Both heads tilted up. Credence was sitting cross-legged on the top of the wooden display cabinet in the corner of the room, cradling a steaming mug in both hands. 

“Credence,” Newt said, his voice suddenly a higher pitch. He glanced over at Tina, who was visibly turning red. “How long have you been up there?”

Credence grinned. “Long enough.” 

Newt groaned. “Credence, you’ve got to stop lurking around like that.”

Elegantly, still holding his mug in one hand, Credence climbed down from his perch. He didn’t spill a drop. “No,” He said, still smiling. “You have got to start being more observant. What kind of a magician are you?”

“You weren’t actually there the whole time, were you?” Tina said quickly, before Newt could say anything. “Your mug’s still steaming, and I’ve been trying to work Jacob’s laptop for at least an hour.”

Credence nodded approvingly. “It’s good to see that somebody’s on board today.”  
Newt just rolled his eyes, and held out a hand for the mug. Credence passed it over, and Newt took a sip. It was one of Queenie’s hot chocolates, a treat that was usually made only when Jacob had been for a visit earlier on in the day. “Were you there long enough to hear our last conversation?” He asked. “All of it, I mean.”

“I was – and I said, I agree with Tina. We should do something like what Queenie suggested – no money, no risks, no magic. An actual trick.”

“Honey,” A voice said from the kitchen. “Most tricks still do involve a bit of risk. Look at when we sawed that gentleman in half in New Orleans.”

“We didn’t saw him fully in half,” Tina protested, but it was mild.

Queenie appeared at the doorway in her pink apron, looking distinctly more put-together than Newt - potentially because Jacob still needed to pick his laptop back up. “You didn’t put him back together. Believe me. He was in half.” 

“If he was actually in two pieces, he wouldn’t have-“

“Anyway,” Newt said loudly. “We learned from that. No muggle tricks. That’s what we decided, remember?”

Credence took his mug back. “I think we’ve come far since then, though. We’ve been doing a lot more magic in the acts lately, and I don’t want to be arrogant.”

Tina frowned. “What do you mean, arrogant?”

“We’re more popular with no-maj audiences than we ever have been. If we keep using magic, like robbing banks and flying, sooner or later somebody is going to notice. Just because we don’t pay very much attention to the goings-on in the wizarding world doesn’t mean that they aren’t paying attention to us.”

There was a silence as they all took this in.

Then Newt sighed. “Okay, fine. Have it your way. No more bank robberies.” He disappeared back into the kitchen. “I’ll serve the pancakes. Do you know any more men we can try to murder that aren’t your almost-boyfriend, Queenie?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graves does some research.

Percival had to admit; they were good. Very good, in fact.

After arriving at the office, he’d asked one of his aurors to bring him all of the files that MACUSA had on the Four Horsemen. He’d underestimated the amount of research that had been put into the group, even as a mild security threat, and halfway through the second file he was beginning to regret his decision.

Most other wizards in a senior position like his would have simply asked the investigative team to do the paperwork – to leaf through the documents and reports and photographs and notify him of anything that seemed important to their investigation. But Percival didn’t like leaving other people to do the groundwork. At least if he helped with the paperwork it was on his head too if the team missed anything that was essential.

All four of the magicians had been solo performers first, he discovered. Their names weren’t kept a secret – there were various articles in no-maj newspapers about their origins, and how they’d risen to stardom from virtual obscurity.

Percival waved his hand and poured himself another cup of coffee, settling back in his chair with a selection of articles. A year or so previously, a no-maj magazine had profiled each of the magicians. There were no interviews, so Percival had to assume that they’d had to scrape together what information that they could find. Using the profiles, he wrote some brief notes on each of the magicians.

 

Newton Scamander. English. A master of card tricks. Also adept at controlling a cloud of substance in the air – smoke? English. Met Porpentina, also a member, on business.

 

Portpentina Goldstein. Sister of Queenie Goldstein. Generally works with Newton Scamander. Can only assume that she met Newton, then introduced him to her sister. Unsure what her role is – articles suggest that she is behind the operation. Assistant?

 

Queenie Goldstein. Solo act involves birds appearing from nowhere, and changing outfits instantly in a shower of glitter (?).

 

Credence Barebone.

 

Percival paused as he read the profile on this young man. Barebone was a Scourer name, and this was definitely something that the team needed to look into. He added this.

 

Credence Barebone. Potentially of scourer descent? Unknown how he met the Goldsteins and Newton Scamander. Hypnosis. Flies into the air above the crowd – allegedly without any ropes or support.

 

Percival wasn’t an idiot. He knew that no-majs had ways of suspending themselves in mid-air that looked as though they were unsupported. That was the whole point of the act. Nevertheless, if he really was flying without ropes then it could be of interest.

In the end, even after an hour or so of reading, he didn’t pull very much out of the profiles. It was the articles about their performances that were really intriguing.

The foursome had made their first public performance to a small crowd in an unpopular theatre three years before. Their reputation had boomed, and now they were selling out concert venues all across the country. They probably could have sold out arenas if they’d wanted to, he mused, but it seemed that wasn’t to their taste.

It was obviously the feats that they performed that was the reason for their popularity. As well as their individual acts, which were impressive enough on their own, they also took part in tricks as a group. It was these that had drawn the attention of the crowds.

In one particularly fascinating show, they had stolen a large safe full of jewellery belonging to a billionaire. This alone would have been an incredible feat, but the most incredible thing about it was that it had been stolen without any of the magicians leaving the stage – and it had been located in a bank in Paris.

As it turned out, all of the jewellery had been reported missing by multiple people. It had been stolen by the billionaire first – and the Horsemen had stolen it back. All of the items were returned to their rightful owners following the performance.

Percival found it interesting that these people didn’t keep any of the money that they stole for themselves – not on that occasion, or any other. They were like magician vigilantes.

It wasn’t a very good business model, he mused. Unless making money wasn’t their goal after all, and never really had been.

Suddenly, something clicked in Percival’s head. _Yes!_ He thought. That had to be it. _They have another goal._

He needed to find out what that goal was. In the ever-changing wizarding political climate, there were many people with goals. Some of these were harmless, or even beneficial. Others were the opposite.

There was the possibility that – if the Four Horsemen were indeed wizards and witches as the President believed – they could simply be trying to prove some sort of point. They could be good, in a chaotic kind of way that proved an enormous security risk. Perhaps they were squibs, uneducated, had somehow slipped through the system – and didn’t understand how much danger that they were in. 

But then again, what they were doing was the perfect way to expose and destroy wizardkind if that’s what they were seeking to do. All it would take was one explosive grand finale.

And if that was a risk, Percival Graves had to handle it. Swiftly.

He was beginning to think that Seraphina had a point in asking him to investigate the magicians after all; not that he would tell her that just yet. Not until he had made up his mind.

Making a decision, he called Abernathy - an supervisor for the Wand Permit Department next door, but who could be counted on for these things - into his office and requested a ticket to the next performance of the Four Horsemen.

“You’re going to watch them yourself, sir?” Abernathy asked. He paused, adding tentatively, Would you not prefer to…send an auror?”

Percival frowned at his notes, the name ‘Credence Barebone’ in particular standing out quite plainly. “No,” He said grimly. “I think this is something that I need to see for myself.”


End file.
